2,000 Greater & Lesser Mysteries/2,000 Greater and Lesser Mysteries.iso/radio/odds/mys01868.txt

Text File | 1994-06-10 | 8.0 KB | 336 lines

                         LOS NUMEROS
                        (August, 1990)

                              by
                         Havana Moon


Scott was, to put it mildly, growing increasingly tired of

Sheriff Andy, Aunt Bea and Barney and TV in general.  Even

the often risque and "after-hours" sounds of the stations on

the high end of the AM broadcast band did little to titillate

his sensibilities.  One more "Midnight Special" Record offer

and . . .



Some few days later - out of sheer desperation - he carefully

dusted off his dad's long unused National and decided to see

if listening in on the world via shortwave radio would

provide a suitable listening alternative.   He'd already

learned from a local ham, who lived across the lake, all

about DXers - those who thrill to the discovery and positive

identification of a distant broadcast station, but it didn't

take long for him to tire of the drab BBC radio dramas.  And

one more word of anti-American propaganda from Radio Moscow

and . . .



It was early September and brisk, unseasonably cool winds

chilled the Vermont countryside.  He paid scant attention as

his parents prepared for a long-awaited weekend at Boston's

Park Plaza and the theatre district.  One more lecture about

his responsibilities while they were away and . . .



Some hours later, as was his habit of late, he was tuning

just outside the allocated international shortwave

frequencies when . . .



It was the sound of a woman's voice in Spanish, repeating

over and over - Atencion 967 65.  He was suddenly wide awake,

as visions of cloaks, daggers and "pulp-novel spies" faded in

and out of his thoughts.  The woman's voice - dull and

monotone - continued . . .



Uno Cinco Cinco Dos Cinco.



His first-year Spanish suddenly took on new meaning as he

automatically translated the number group into 15525 .  . .

_____________________________________________________________

This event occurred well over 25 years ago, and has occurred

countless times since.  If you're a Shortwave Listener or

ham, it's nearly impossible - day or night - not to hear a

"Numbers Station" transmitting in Spanish, German, English

and numerous other languages.



You've heard them.  Sure you have.  They commonly take the

form of four and five-digit groups of numbers which are

preceded by an identifier and group count.  They are

generally broadcast by a mechanical-sounding female voice,

although Morse code (CW) Numbers transmissions are also

frequently reported.  Several distinctly different formats

have been noted.



The 'who' and 'why' aspects of these transmissions are, for

the most part, unknown.  Their mysterious nature has resulted

in their common characterization as spy transmissions.

Some specific information on the 'where' aspects of Numbers

stations follows below.  The spy theory has been enhanced

over the years by the FCC's inconsistent position in response

to numerous inquiries by the Shortwave Listening community.



If you've never heard a Numbers transmission, tune your

radio to 12300 kHz any Saturday at (2200 UTC). You'll almost

certainly hear a 'classic' 4-Digit Spanish Numbers trans-

mission which will run from 15-30 minutes.  The signal from

this transmission is very powerful and can be heard across

most of the US.   Another sure bet can be found on 6840 kHz

at 2300 UTC - an English 3/2 format broadcast that can be

found in parallel on 5047 kz.



In regards the 'where' - a number of sites have been identi-

fied in recent years, notably in Warrenton and Remington, VA

and Miami, FL.  In addition, with the aid of sophisticated

RDF (Radio Direction Finding) equipment and the invaluable

assistance of highly authoritative and professional

resources, several new transmission sites have been

positively identified in recent months, as reported initially

in The Umbra et Lux Newsletter.  They include the following:

1. A five-digit Spanish station which operated on 6577 kHz

   during 1989 and early 1990 has been traced to a site near

   Jinotega, Nicaragua.  At various other times, this same

   station has been traced to several other locations,

   including one in Honduras, one near Cozumel, Mexico and

   another in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico!  This

   frequency is allocated to air-to-ground communications for

   international airliners in the busy Caribbean sector.



2. A five-digit Spanish station on 3927 kHz has been located

   approximately 15 miles SW of Havana near Guineo, Cuba.



3. A five-digit CW station on 3690 kHz has also been traced

   to Guineo, Cuba.  (A government source believes Guineo to

   be a major transmitter site used by DGI (Cuban Intelli-

   gence).



Finally, there has been wide speculation that these trans-

missions are messages which are meant to be decoded using a

'one-time-pad' -- If that is the case, it's very curious to

note that the same five digit groups are oftentimes seen to

repeat over and again in the same crypt -- and that the very

same transmissions are seen to repeat from week to week, and

from month to month - so often, in fact, that tape breaks are

sometimes noted!  When spliced back together, the 'sloppy'

handling sometimes results in truncated 5-digit groups - the

end result being a mixture of 4 and 5-digit groups in the

very same transmission!



These facts would tend to point one away from the one-time-

pad concept and support a couple of other theories -

suggesting that the numbers are NOT a cipher, but rather a

code unto themselves, and that much of this traffic is

'dummy' in nature - broadcast simply to keep a frequency open

over a long period of time.



In addition, most five-digit Spanish numbers transmissions

are very badly over-modulated, resulting in numerous spurs up

and down frequency.  When broadcast under such conditions,

the numbers (6) seis and (7) siete are almost indistinguish-

able, making it impossible to copy a crypt without numerous

errors.



Here's the bottom line.  If I were in the spy business and

had to rely on this method of communication to get my orders,

I'd find another job.  Drums or smoke signals would be more

effective!



More Numbers Basics in a future column.



PROFILE ON THE A*C*E

Can't think of a more fitting club to feature alongside this

introductory Numbers column.  The Association of Clandestine

Radio Enthusiasts publishes one of the best Club Bulletins

you'll find in radio.  A specialty group with a particular

focus on Pirate, Clandestine and other Covert Radio

transmissions, The A*C*E is the premier publication of its

kind.  With regular columns by the Experts in the field

including John Arthur, Kirk Baxter, Harry Helms, Don Bishop,

Andy Yoder, George Zeller and Yours Truly, you can't find

fresher loggings or QSL information anywhere else!



If this Numbers, Clandestines or Pirates are up your alley

- join The A*C*E.  Annual dues are $18/year, and a sample

bulletin can be obtained for $2.00 through the following

address: PO Box 11201, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207.



Be sure to tell 'em RadioScan Magazine sent you.



See you at the Sushi Blues Cafe - Say, what? That, folks, is

where you take raw harmonica and whining blues, pack 'em in

cooked rice and then roll 'em in paper-thin seaweed - and

you've got the Sushi Blues Cafe!  In Hollywood - Florida -

that is!



Time now for a Tecate . . .

                               Adios . . .

                                         Havana Moon y Amigas



Havana Moon can be reached at the following Electronic Mail

addresses:  On the Internet at "[e-mail]",

on the UUCP network at "sun!portal!cup.portal.com!HAVANAMOON"

on GEnie at HAVANA.MOON and on the FidoNet at 1:272/39.





                                     (c) 1990, MoonBeam Press